Improvement in feeding mechanisms for sewing-machines



2Shee ts--Sheet1. n. M. SMYTH. Feeding-Mechanisms for Sewing-Machines.Flu-151,801.,

Patented June 9,1874.

y 2 sheets S'heet 2.-

Patented June 9 TTNTTED STATES PATENT OFrIoE.

DAVID M. SMYTH, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO STIGKLER, ELLIOTT &VILSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

: IMPROVEMENT IN FEEDING MECHANISMS FOR SEWlNG-MACHlNES.

Specifi cation. forming part of Letters Patent No. 16] ,80] dated June9, 1874 application filed April 28, 1874.

To all whom it mag cancer a Be it known that I, DAVID M. SMYTH, of Lynn,in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented anImprovement in Feed-Motions for Sewing-Machines, of which the followingis a specificationv This invention is designed for ornamental, zigzag,or other pattern-sewing by automatic and variable means, so that themachine can easily be changed to produce one pattern or another ofornamental stitching. A wheel is employed that is revolved once by astep-bystep movement every eight, ten, or twelve stitches, more or less,and upon the periphery and upon one face there are holes at equaldistances apart, and into these screwsare in- I serted at positionsadapted to produce the intended pattern. The screws upon the peripherymove the feed laterally, either one way or the other, and the feedingbars or points are moved longitudinally in a frame acted upon by acontinuously-revolvin g cam on the shaft of the machine, and inconnection with this v longitudinal feed there is a locking-outmechoperative, or not to actuate the lateral feed while the longitudinalfeed is operative. I also provide a means for throwing the lateral feedout of action, and allowing the longitudinal feed only to operate.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an elevation of the feeding mechanism. Fig.2 is an elevation of the pattern-wheel and a section of the feed-bar.Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of the lateral-feeding'slide. Fig. 4 is aplan of the feeding device, and of the secondary bed to which the partsare attached. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the feeding mechanism and section of the bed, and Fig. 6 is an inverted plan of the parts representedin Fig. 5.

The sewing mechanism is to be of any dosired character, and is not shownherein, ex-

cept that a represents part of the needle, and bpart of thepresser-foot. The feed-bars or points a c are at the end of a verticalbar, 0 attached at 0 within a frame, d, that slides at one end in theguide 61 to which it is connected by the screw 2 in a slot in d and nearthe other end are the guides at, that allow it to move freely up ordown, or forward or back. The cam 0 upon the shaft f of the machinegives the bar-frame d the forward-and-back movement to produce thelongitudinal feed, such cam acting upon the hooked end 3. A second cam,0 behind e, acting below the flat end 4 of 01, gives the up-and-downmovement, to press the feeding-points 0 against the fabric or material,or draw the same away. The spring g keeps the frame 01 toward itsoperating-cams. When the look-out latch h, that swings upon the fulcrum5, is allowed to catch behind the screw 2, the finger 3 is held awayfrom the cam 6, so that the longitudinal feed will not be operative. Thepattern-wheel l is sustained by a shaft passing through the hangingbracket 1, and at the end is a ratchet, wheel, m, and o and p are pawlsfor this ratchet-wheel. They are upon the pawl-plate 0, that is moved bya crank-pin. The pawl 0 has a projection, 9, for a spring to actagainst, that the pawl can be thrown back out of action by moving theprojection sufficiently to bring it against the other portion of theincline of the spring, and in this way the rotation of the pattern-wheelI can be stopped at the will of the operator. The pawl 19 can also bethrown out of action by the swinging arm 10, that carries a shield, 11,to enterbetween the pawl and ratchet-wheel. In the normal posi tion,Figs. 1 and 2, this arm 10 is held out of the way of the pawl 10 by thespring 13; but when the moving end of this spring is thrown on the otherside of the fulcrum .of the arm 10, said arm is pressed toward .theratchetwheel; and when the hole 14 in said wheel m arrives behind a pin,15, on said arm 10, then said arm will be moved by the spring 13, andthe ratchet p thrown out of action. This hole 14 determines the point atwhich thepattern-stitchingisstopped,sothatstraight sewing may be startedfrom a given point in the pattern-sewing. The position of the pawlsissuch that the ratchet-wheel will be moved around the extent of half atooth by one pawl, and the other half tooth by the other pawl, in a in gsixteen pauses with eight ratchet-teeth for an object hereafter named.The feed-bars c or teeth are in longitudinal slots in the feeding-slidet, and this slide is capable of endwise movement, to give thefeeding-points motion laterally. Upon the under side of the slide 15 areprojections u and o, It is preferable that they be attached by slots andscrews, so that they may be adjusted. I have shown the projection u asfitted to move endwise in the slide 25, by the action of a cam piece orplate, w, so that the distance between a and '0 may be changed at thewill of the operator, and in so doing the length of lateral movement ofthe feeding bars or points 0 will be varied, and the stitches be largeror smaller.

It will now be evident that the movable screws 18 in the pattern-wheel,acting against the stop a, move the feed laterally in one direction, andthe screws 19, acting against the stop '17, move the feed laterally inthe other direction, and according to the positions of these screws, sothe movement will take place at the time the feed-points are raised, orwhen they are depressed, the motion in one direction being a returnmovement, and in the other direction an operative feed movement.

If this lateral feed operates when the longitudinal feed is operative,the movement of the fabric will be diagonally in either one direction orthe other. If the screws 18 and 19 are omitted in the patternwheel forone or more stitches, then the longitudinal feed only will be operative,and if the longitudinal feed is locked out of action by thelocking-leverh, then the lateral feed only will operate.

It will be apparent that the screws 20 on the side of the pattern-wheelZ keep the spring 21 from throwing the lock-leverh back to the screw 2,except when the screws are omitted.

The screw-holes should be numbered, and

the said feed-bar out of action.

the operator can keep a record of the numbers of the holes into whichscrews are to be inserted in producing a given pattern. By turning thecam-plate 10 around sufiiciently to open the space between c and u, andmake it wide enough for the screws 18 and 19 to pass between themwithout touching, the lateral feed will be thrown out of action. Iprefer at the same time to hold the locking-lever h back out of actionby the finger 24 on the plate to, that moves the lever 25, link 26, andlockinglever h to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4.

WVhen the pawl 0 is thrown back, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, thelocking-lever h can be held back out of action by the wedgeblock 7L2,turned in between the feed-bar d and lever h, thereby preventing thespring 21 forcing the lever behind the screw 2', and locking Thiswedgeblock 7L2 will take the place of the lever 25 and link 26, anddispense-with the cam-plate w and finger 2d upon the surface of the bed.

' I claim as my invention- 1. The locking-out lever h, combined with thelateral-feeding mechanism, and the feed bar and longitudinal-feedingmechanism, and the movable screws or pins upon the patternwheel,substantially as set forth.

2. The movable cam-plate 'w, in combination with the stops it c andpattern-cam for adjustin g the length of lateral stitches, substantiallyas set forth.

3. The swinging pawl 0 on the pawl-plate,

constructed with a projection for the spring,

in combination with the ratchet-wheel m, pattern cam or wheel I, andlateral-feeding mechanism, substantially as set forth, to throw thatmechanism out of action by turning back the pawl, as set forth.

Signed by me this 22d day of April, 1874. Witnesses: l). M. SMYTH. GEO.IV. GLAZIER, GEO. O. Gunmen.

